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Hunter in Darkness
History Origin The Hunter in Darkness was a lycantrophic being that resided in the Canadian wilderness. This creature was a bipedal white furred werewolf-like being of unknown origin though acted on animalistic instincts and attacked with fierce claws as well as vicious teeth. He hunted by the use of senses such as smell and stood downwind of any sight in order to easily catch the scent of prey. Its name originated from the legends of the Blackfoot tribe of Native Americans that populated the region in distant times. Though called the Hunter in Darkness, the Blackfoot term actually roughly translated to mean "He Who Stalks On Moonless Nights". Some believed that the Blackfoots may had even adopted the name from an even older legend that was associated with the Assinoboines. By modern times, the creature became a fascinating piece of the local Canadian culture. The beast became known as the legendary stalker of the northern woods and feared by generations of local Indians as a quasi-mythical evil spirit of the forest. Sergeant Doolin of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in his youth was known to had come to believe in the old legend even though most people dismissed it as a myth. This led to him placing a bear trap in the woods with the intention of trapping the Hunter. During this time, the creature is known to had its leg trapped within the bear trap and left crippled in unbearable pain. At this time, an amnesiac Wolverine had escaped the experiments conducted on him by the Weapon X Program but was left with only animalistic instincts. He approached the Hunter who offered its neck to Wolverine in the belief that he would kill it. However, Wolverine instead opened up the trap and moved with it deeper into the woods to draw Doolin to him which allowed the Hunter in Darkness to escape to safety. It was never known to the Hunter why Logan had gave it this act of kindness though this event became deeply embedded in its memory. The Hunter in Darkness By 1990, the Hunter was known to had been prowling the forests near the Buffalo Woods State in Northern Alberta. During this time, Sergeant Doolin along with his partner Morris were on the search for an escaped criminal called Athabasca Ike who had kidnapped a young girl. They enlisted the aid of Logan who was visiting the area though the two were unaware of his past. When Wolverine offered his tracking skills, Doolin decided to also get his help in finding the Hunter in Darkness. However, Ike managed to kill Morris and caused their jeep to crash leaving an injured Doolin in the care of Logan. Whilst searching for Ike, they came under attack from the Hunter in Darkness that had been masked from Wolverine's senses as the wind protected its scent. Attacking Logan, the creature managed to draw blood from his target when Wolverine urged Doolin to shoot. However, the light from his torch attracted the sight of Ike who shot Doolin and left him badly wounded. In the mean time, from his attack, the Hunter began to recall the smell and voice of Wolverine as the person that spared it in the past. Whilst in deep thought, the beast was struck by a bullet from Ike's rifle which interrupted the fight with Wolverine. After the strike, he fully recollected the events of the icy winter when Logan saved him many years ago. The beast quickly recovered from his wound at a time when Ike's rifle was knocked out of his hands by his kidnapped victim. A hunger was present in the creature though it was never known whether it was simple hunger or revenge that motivated the Hunter. Whilst searching for the gun, the Hunter in Darkness moved up the slope where he used his senses to locate Ike who was struggling to locate his rifle in the complete darkness. Using a lighter, the criminal attempted to illuminate his surroundings in order to escape and believed the Hunter had killed the escaped girl when he heard her scream. However, the moment the flame emerged, it showed the Hunter in Darkness before Ike which attacked him. The last words heard from him were his screams as he was killed when the Hunter ripped him apart. The death of Sgt. Doolin led to his daughter Emmy Doolin to swear vengeance on those responsible for his death namely Wolverine along with the Hunter in Darkness. Claws Over Time Square! Later by 1991, the millionare Ronald Parvenue spent a large amount of money for a hunting expedition into the Canadian wilderness in the search for the Hunter in Darkness. He succeeded in ultimately capturing the beast and dragging him in a cage back to the United States in order to showcase his latest acquisition. The beast was placed in a cage and brought to near Mid Manhattan where a public unveiling was scheduled at the Parvenue Casino. This event was also intended to earn Parvenue considerable money from the tourism board as he intended to take the creature from one city to another. The degradation of the creature angered Wolverine who was present in the city at the time and witnessed the Hunter being brought in its cage by way of a helicopter. The beast snarled in anger when a bullet from Emmy Doolin impacted the Hunter that left a minor wound on him. This saw Logan jump on top of the cage in order to free the Hunter as he was unaware of who shot the sniper bullet. However, he was quickly attacked by his own foes in the form of Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike. The fight between the three combatants over the cage led to it being unstable and the cable snapped leading it to crash on top of the roof of a building. The knocked out combatants quickly regained consciousness only to realise that the Hunter in Darkness was loose. Fearing the creature would attack them all, Logan offered his two arch-enemies a true to fight the Hunter. However, they refused and simply renewed their personal vendettas with him. The skirmish re-ignited the memories of the beast as he remembered Wolverine's act of kindness in the past and attacked Logan's enemies in a vicious struggle that he was winning. A frustrated Emmy Doolin was unable to distinguish the combatants in the dark and decided to selectively eliminate them with her sniper rifle in the hopes that she would eventually kill the Hunter. However, she instead knocked out Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike instead. Fearing for Wolverine, Jubilee used her powers to illuminate the surroundings in bright light to blind Doolin's vision scope. This in turn ignited the survival instincts of the Hunter who associated the light with fire and fled. The Hunter in Darkness managed to escape the building where he fled into the sewers that belonged to the Morlocks where he killed one of the alligators that tried to ambush him. The Crunch Conundrum The Hunter remained within the sewers in 1991 where the Morlocks believed it to be a beast that prowled the area and hunted albino aligators. He later approached a base of the Morlocks led by Masque that was being used by the androids Albert and Elsie-Dee. Masque urged Albert to attack the Hunter but Elsie-Dee simply befriend the creature who she started calling "Puppy" and began petting his head. She claimed that "Puppy" did not belong in the sewers and said that he would accompany the androids as they intended to depart the site in Albert's modified stealth bomber. Thus, the trio departed the sewers and water where they took flight in the air to seek adventure elsewhere. Powers and Abilities *'Claws/Fangs' : this creature relied on its sharp claws and teeth that were strong enough to rend most organic materials. *'Durability' : a dense sinew of muscles and skin provided the Hunter the ability incredible durability allowing him to survive bullet shots and even engaged in prolonged fights with superpowered beings. *'Enhanced Senses' : the beast held a number of senses that were superior to Humans. **'Hearing' : the Hunter in Darkness's sense of hearing was so acute that it helped him locate prey within the wilderness of Canada. **'Smell' : his sense of smell was acute enough for the creature to smell the scent of a person and even recognise them from previous contact even after many decades. **'Vision' : the Hunter had superior eyesight that provided a combination of night vision and infrared vision giving the beast the capacity to hunt at night though he lacked conventional colored Human vision. *'Strength' : this beast had superhuman levels of strength which he relied on his hunting and used savagely in combat. Notes *Coming Soon Trivia *Coming Soon See Also *Hunter in Darkness/Gallery Links *http://marvel.wikia.com/Hunter_in_Darkness_(Earth-616) *http://www.comicvine.com/hunter-in-darkness/29-15692/ Category:Characters